Sitapur is the town (pur - pura - puram) of Sita, and it is about 200 kilometres away from Rama's city - Ayodhya. In Uttar Pradesh (UP) there is also a district and a town named Rampur (between Bareilly and Moradabad) and a town named Ramnagar in Nainital district.
While Sitapur is said to be associated with Sita, it is not evident. Sita is thus named after the Sanskrit word furrow, as she was said to have been found in a furrow by the just king Janaka of Mithila. (Because of these, she is also Janki and Maithili. Interestingly, Maithili is also one of the 22 official languages listed by the Indian state, spoken in certain parts of India and is the 2nd most spoken language in Nepal. It has great similarity to Hindi). Mithila is shown on Google map as 27 km from Janakpur, the district headquarters of Dhanusa in Nepal. The two places are about 725 km away from Sitapur of UP, which is on the Lucknow-Bareilly national highway, about 100 km away from Lucknow.
I feel happy to be living in a town and district named after the most influential feminine figure of Hindu tradition. She is not just a pious, obedient wife and mother, but a symbol of human and feminine earthiness, power, determination, courage, independence and daring. (Indian Express*)
Travel through Sitapur gives the impression of a sleepy, bucolic district which has lot of mango groves and sugarcane fields. That gels well with the original meaning of Sita, furrow - as she is the daughter of earth, Sitapur also appears to be a child of earth, with the predominance of agriculture in the district. Wikipedia indicates that Sitapur was founded by Vikramaditya!! It was under the Mughal rule, then under Nawab of Awadh. By 1858, it came under the British rule.
Sitapur township is a municipality (nagarpalika) with 30 divisions and the population is about 1.8 lakhs. The town appears ugly and unkempt. The lack of waste management skills coupled with the modern consumerist economy hugely dependent on plastic packaging has done immense damage to the human environment, all around which is unmanaged plastic waste. Though having a lot of open fields, Sitapur town area AQI is generally above 250 (Perhaps, this may be more true with the township of Sitapur, than the rest of the district). It may be the sugar mills around the place leading to such poor air quality.
The monotony of upper Gangetic plains is broken by rivers - some small, some big - flowing through the district - Gomti, Kathana, Pirai, Sarayan, Ghaghra and Sharda. There are sandy stretches along the rivers, called bhurs.
There are seven Thehsils in the district - Biswan, Leharpur, Mahmoudnagar, Mishrik, Maholi, Sidhauli, and Sitapur.
I go about exploring the nasty appearing township - the Cantt Road is rather well laid and well maintained. As you enter the old town, it is a typical old-style North Indian town - you go to Najibabad, or Satna - it is almost the same. Narrow roads, vehicles parked around, littered all through, shops on both sides, street vendors and thele wallah, rickshaws and e-rickshaws moving helter-skelter. Total chaos. I find the ghanta ghar - a structure indicating some antiquity. But very poorly maintained.
A short stopover at the old town of Lerharpur led me to a temple of architectural and antique value. IT is just 2 kilometres off the town at Kesariganj, Naveen Nagar - Bholenath Temple (Shivala) and Radha-Krishna Temple in one campus. The Bholenath structure is really imposing and with an abundance of intricate artwork. It is having 4 huge towers on the four corners and a terraced platform leading to the sanctuary. The Radhakrishna temple appeared more alive, with some rituals happening and a young priest around, and warmly providing us with the prasad of the deity. The temple structures were said to have been by the local King of Kattesar Raja Pratap Singh. The king's palace, which is still being used could be found beyond that.
There is a deep well, which has water, but is ill-maintained. Adjoining the temple property is a spacious tank which again wore an uncared-for look. The campus has other structures too - one of them has been converted into an intermediate college building.
I felt that an architectural treasure trove is being gradually given to degradation and destruction in spite of it being under ASI.
There are two imposing gates marking the two access points to Leharpur town - both modern and funded by the government. One with an architecture with distinct Islamic features, and the other royal, but modern and imposing. I wonder how such a huge wastage of public money could be afforded. My assessment is that both put together, it might have cost at least 2 crores for the structures.
Towards the east of the city, River Sharada flows with great power and life. It emerges from Kalapani in Uttarakhand, passes kissing Nepal and flows through UP to merge with Ghagra which eventually joins the river Ganges. Humans have intervened to divide her to tap her waters for irrigation. There is a barrage erected and the flow of the river itself provides an enchanting locale, though the premises are kept filthy with unmanaged waste. I learn that fish abound in the river. The area close to Sharadanagar has the potential to be developed into a very good picnic spot.
Sitamarhi in Bihar, about 140 kms from Patna, boasts to be part of the old Mythila where Sita was
found by Janaka. It is very close to the Nepal border. Unlike Sitapur, UP, this place is quite close to Janakpur of Nepal, just 60 kilometres. It is called Janki Sthan and the spot is termed Urjiva Kund in Dumra. A temple dedicated to Mother Sita is found in Punaura Dham Sitamarhi, close to which a rock-cut sanctuary from Mauryan days is also found. The spring festival of Ramnavami and the feast of the wedding of Ram and Sita are 2 prominent festivals of the locality.
P.S.I am awaiting to learn about other places linked to Sita and Ram.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sitapur_district
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